The German said that he was surprised by the possession-based style favoured by Stephen Bradley’s side, suggesting that they approach games like they are the ‘Man City of Ireland’ in terms of how they try to control the ball.

Rovers are still major underdogs to get a result from their trip to Vienna, with SK Rapid joint top of the table with a 100pc record from their three games. Still, there is local respect for the Hoops given that they are just two points behind with both sides already in a position where they can expect to be involved in the competition after Christmas. A top eight finish to skip the play-off round is the target for Rapid, but Klauß has warned against underestimating the Dubliners.

“They are different from a team I would expect from Ireland,” said Klauß, a 39-year-old who came through the Red Bull Leipzig coaching system.

“When you look at Ireland or Northern Ireland or other countries, they play a lot of what we would expect – a vertical style, going for second balls or set pieces or all of the things we think.

“They (Rovers) are different, they speak about themselves as the Man City of Ireland, they want to be them. You can tell if you see them playing,

“They have a very good ball circulation, they have a lot of control, they have many players in the midfield. They practice a lot of small passes.

“They try and they achieve a lot of these things, with the formation but also how they build up and progress the last game into the last third and create goalscoring opportunities, it’s kind of special but, yeah, to be fair I’m not an expert on Irish football.

“They know their strengths, they find good solutions – they are not extremely strong when it comes to physical presence. They are just like us, they want to play football.”

Rapid have sold 20,000 home tickets for the game, with 700 Rovers fans set to populate the away section of the 28,300 capacity Allianz Stadium.

The locals are 32 times champion of their country, but have not lifted the title since 2008 with Red Bull Salzburg the dominant team of the era. Sturm Graz claimed the league last year, and currently hold a five-point lead over Rapid at the top of the table with a weekend draw away to WSG Tirol a disappointment.

Klauß sent a representative to watch Rovers play a friendly with HJK Helsinki last Thursday, but said they learned nothing new from the exercise. He dismissed the idea that match sharpness will favour his team with Rovers out of competitive action since their victory over TNS three weeks ago with Bradley giving his players time off after that match because their likely European schedule means they won’t have a proper pre-season heading into the 2025 campaign.

“They are doing their best to stay as fit as possible,” he said. “Maybe it allowed some of their players to recover, maybe they were tired. They had games against HJK Helsinki last Thursday and Friday, one with fans and one without.

“Being there confirmed what we already knew. We watched many games in the Conference League, from the qualification, we saw their line up, the way they play, the way they use their players. We saw again their strengths and their weak points. I’m looking forward to this game, we are extremely happy to have this opportunity but when you face any team that is representing their country in European football, you have to stay focused.”